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Boyden, Jo, Alula Pankhurst and Yisak Tafere (2012) ‘Child protection and harmful traditional practices: female early marriage and genital modification in Ethiopia’, Development in Practice 22 (4): 510-522. DOI: 10.1080/09614524.2012.672957

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Child Protection Challenges around Female Early Marriage and Genital Modification in

Ethiopia

Jo Boyden, Alula Pankhurst, Yisak Tafere

Abstract

This article explores divergent perspectives on female early marriage and genital

modification in Ethiopia. It contrasts international norms and research evidence with local

understandings, the latter focusing on the part these practices play in securing family social

heritage, wellbeing of girls, and their transition to adulthood. The article explains

persistence of these practices in the face of campaigns to eliminate them and questions

assumptions behind the international child protection model. It points to unintended

adverse consequences of interventions that do not pay sufficient regard to local meanings

and social relations, and suggests how policy might be approached differently.

Key words: early female marriage, female genital modification, Ethiopia, child protection

policy

Bios:

Jo Boyden is Director of Young Lives and Professor of International Development at the University of

Oxford. She has worked in a wide range of countries on various aspects of research and policy with

children, particularly children exposed to armed conflict, child labour, education, as well as

publishing on childhood resilience in the context of adversity, poverty and socio-cultural

development

Alula Pankhurst is Ethiopia Country Director of Young Lives and has taught Social Anthropology at

Addis Ababa University. He has a PhD from Manchester University and has worked on resettlement

and migration, poverty and wellbeing, marginalisation, children, customary institutions, conflict

resolution, food security, social protection and natural resource management.

Yisak Tafere is a PhD candidate at Norwegian Center for Child Research, Norwegian University of

Science and Technology (NTNU) and Lead Qualitative Researcher for Young Lives Ethiopia. His

research focus includes children’s educational and occupational aspirations, childhood poverty, life-

course and intergenerational transfer of poverty, social protection and children

Introduction:

Why is it that the customs of early marriage and female genital modification, which have

been shown to endanger the health of girls, persist among some people? In Ethiopia,

advocacy campaigns and legal sanctions mean that awareness of the hazards of such

practices is widespread. Yet some conscientious parents continue to insist on them, and

indeed so do some girls. This article explores the complexity of these practices in the lives of

those who adhere to them, and contends that child protection is not always straightforward.

For the purpose of this discussion, we define ‘early marriage’ as any union between

individuals under the age of 18 years, this being the minimum legal age of marriage and the

age of majority in Ethiopia [1]. The concentration on girls reflects the fact that early

marriages are far more prevalent among females than males in Ethiopia. A survey carried

out in 1997 suggested that a third of girls were married before the age of 15, with significant

differences in the extent of early marriage by ethnic group (EGLDAM 2008). In 2005 the

median age at first marriage was 16.1 for women, rising to 18 in urban areas and over 21 in

the capital Addis Ababa (CSAE 2006). Statistical data confirm ethnographic evidence that

early marriage is more prevalent in northern Ethiopia, and that the median age at first

marriage is rising in younger age groups.

We take female genital modification (FGM) to denote all procedures involving partial or total

removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for

non-medical reasons (WHO 2010). In 2005, three in four women in Ethiopia had undergone

genital modification, the prevalence being lower in urban areas, at just over two-thirds, and

very high in the two pastoral regions in the East of the country, with much lower rates

among girls than their mothers (CSAE 2006). FGM takes three forms in Ethiopia,

cliterodectomy, excision and infibulation.[2] There are important regional variations in the

type of procedure and age of the girls concerned, the extent to which men and women are

circumcised simultaneously, whether it is a rite of passage, performed collectively, and who

officiates (EGLDAM 2008:95-6). The EGLDAM survey suggests that in Addis there is no

excision and only cliterodectomy and in Oromia few excisions and high proportions of

cliterodectomy, while in Amhara they report a little more excision (at 45 per cent) than

cliteridectomy (42 per cent). Our data suggest that FGM is no longer practiced in our Tigray

site and infibulation, the most invasive form, is not undertaken in any of the sites where we

conducted our research.

The findings are based on qualitative research conducted in the context of Young Lives, a

mixed-methods, longitudinal, study of childhood poverty which is tracking around 12,000

children in Ethiopia, India (Andhra Pradesh), Peru and Vietnam). This paper draws on three

rounds of data gathered from a sub-sample of 50 boys and girls in five out of the 20 Young

Lives sites in Ethiopia, as well as with their peers, caregivers and community representatives.

We conducted focus group discussions with boys and girls and adults in separate sessions,

and interviews with a range of community and religious leaders, elders and service

providers. The five sites included one from each of four major regions, plus Addis Ababa, the

capital city.

This article begins by reviewing international child protection norms and official policy in

Ethiopia. We then explain the cultural and material logics underlying the practices and their

importance for the social acceptance of girls transitioning to adulthood. Finally we draw out

implications for policy and practice and summarize the argument and main messages in the

conclusions.

International child protection norms

Female early marriage and genital modification have been widely condemned

internationally as both harmful to girls’ health and a violation of their rights (Mathur et al

2003; UNFPA 2007; UNICEF 2005; WHO 2010). Ethiopia is a signatory of the UN Convention

on the Rights of the Child, which provides for children to be protected against diverse forms

of harm, to have a say in decisions affecting them (and stipulates 18 as the age of majority,

unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier. Ethiopia is also

signatory to the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, which calls for States

to take all appropriate measures to eliminate ‘harmful social and cultural practices affecting

the welfare, dignity, normal growth and development of the child’, especially those that are

‘prejudicial to the health or life of the child’ and/or discriminate on the grounds of ‘sex or

other status’.

International concerns about early marriage centre on the patriarchal and gerontocratic

values pervading this custom, the relative powerlessness of the girls involved, that marriage

under the age of majority is illegal, that early marriages involving bridewealth payments are

akin to commoditizing females, that young girls cannot give meaningful informed consent

(and indeed are often not even consulted) and are especially vulnerable to manipulation or

control (Jensen and Thorton 2003: 14).Other sources of criticism are the known or assumed

adverse health and education consequences, the health impacts being more accurately

attributable to dangers of early pregnancy and childbirth, including maternal mortality and

morbidity (Jain and Kurz 2007), the latter often related to obstetric fistula and difficult

labour, and infant mortality (Mathur et al 2003: 12). Early marriage is also linked with a

raised incidence of violence (Jain and Kurz 2007: 8, Jensen and Thorton 2003) abuse of

women, and isolation from family and community (UNICEF 2005, Mathur et al 2003).

Additionally, early childbearing correlates with lower levels of female education (Jain and

Kurz 2007, Jensen and Thorton 2003).

Most criticisms of FGM emphasize the adverse health impacts. There is limited research on

health effects of cliterodectomy and excision, though one study suggests that women

undergoing excision are more likely to face obstetric complications (Lukman 2001).

Infibulation has been associated with severe haemorrhaging, tetanus or sepsis (bacterial

infection), urine retention, open genital sores and injury to surrounding tissue as well as

several longer-term gynaecologic or urinary tract difficulties, which can lead to the death of

the mother or child (American Academy of Pediatrics 2010; UNFPA 2007; WHO 2010; WHO

Study Group 2006). Also frequently cited are negative effects on girls’ and women’s mental

health (Elnashar and Abdelhady 2007).

Official Policy in Ethiopia

The Government of Ethiopia has labeled FGM and early marriage ‘Harmful Traditional

Practices’ and proscribed them in law, the recent National Child Policy stating that such

customs ‘have negative implications for the physical, mental and psychological development

of children’.[3] The ban is supported by a range of preventative measures, comprising

advocacy campaigns in schools, through the media and among local associations, recently

complemented by the deployment nationally of female health extension workers with a

reproductive health mandate. Remedial interventions include pressure to disclose

infringements and conferment of penalties for violations, consisting chiefly of fines and

imprisonment (Mekonnen and Aspen 2009). There have been important regional differences

in the foci of these efforts, depending largely on the prevalence of the practices locally. Thus,

the drive against early marriage has been stronger in the north, particularly in Amhara

region, and against FGM in the south, especially in Oromia. In general, the push for abolition

has been strongest in urban communities.

Eradication efforts have affected awareness, changed attitudes in some quarters and may

well have contributed to the reduction in incidence in some areas. The increase in the

median age of marriage of women aged 25-45 reported in urban areas between 2000 and

2005, and the greater increase in the younger age cohort aged 20-24 in Amhara and Tigray,

may be indicative of their impact. Likewise, the much higher decline of FGM in urban areas

and among daughters as compared to their mothers in Oromia and the Southern Region

where campaigns have been more intense would suggest that interventions may have

mattered (CSAE 2001, 2006). Respondents stressed different aspects of interventions as

being effective. Thus, in Hawassa, one female leader of an Iddir (funeral association)

attributed the decline in FGM to effective application of fines and health education in

schools, whereas caregivers emphasised the role of awareness-raising activities by a local

non-governmental organisation and work by local government officials with women’s

associations, youth groups and school clubs. Girls in Oromia highlighted the effect of school

programmes, advocacy by District officials and educational films.

All of the agents of the state, professionals and community leaders that we interviewed

oppose both practices, as do quite a few caregivers, girls and boys. Nevertheless, not all calls

for reform arise simply from current policy. Narratives of reform also point to changing

underlying ideas about the instrumental and symbolic value of FGM and early female

marriage in the context of raised aspirations associated with urbanisation, spread of

education, employment opportunities for girls (Woldehanna et al, 2011) and an emergent

focus on fulfilling children’s potential as individuals. In some cases, women’s own

experiences of problems with early marriage and genital modification have been more

pivotal in attitudinal change than government policy. For example, a woman in Hawassa who

had endured severe complications during childbirth following genital modification made

sure that her own daughters were not circumcised, while a woman from Addis Ababa

admitted that she used to defend genital modification as an important local custom, until

she witnessed how much a young circumcised girl suffered when giving birth.

Some of the accounts against early marriage reveal a broader disquiet about the power and

age differences between men and women in traditional unions, about common assertions

that large families have economic advantages, and about the wisdom and justice of women

being married off forcibly while young. A woman in Oromia complained about being made

to marry in her early teens to a drunkard who squandered most of the bridewealth. A

divorced woman in Tigray who was married at 14 and had her first baby at 17 said:

I was too young at the time to tolerate all the troubles. I often fell down, and once

missed the direction of my home. I was too busy and I could not withstand all

challenges and responsibilities. All this embarrassed me and forced me to divorce…At

that time most females were too young for marriage and it was too difficult to

withstand the challenges of life like falling from mountains or fetching water,. That is

why most prefer to divorce...

Views about gendered and generational roles, responsibilities and relations are changing

fast, growing prominence being given to children’s – particularly girls’ - individual interests,

as opposed to their familial duties. For example, concerns that early marriage threatens

schooling were voiced by many and a causal link was made in Tigray between the raised age

of marriage for girls, improved education outcomes, better employment prospects, and

higher salaries. There is also some recognition that young people today are more competent

in certain respects than the young in the past; reflected in an emergent idea that allowing

young people to play a part in deciding their own fate may, in itself, be protective.

Comparing her granddaughter’s life with her own at the same age, one woman in Tigray

emphasized how empowered young women are today. She contrasted women’s past

suffering with circumstances of the current generation: ‘…my granddaughter is 14 years old

now and if I tell her that she is going to marry, she will reply “marry yourself!.” During our

time, we were unable to decide on our life but today children have the right to

decide….Children today are very much wise... Her life will definitely be good because she will

be educated and may even marry someone who is educated.’

However, it is intriguing that even with the ban and penalties and the changing attitudes and

groundswell of activity nationally, these customs persist in so many parts of Ethiopia;

indeed, we uncovered significant resistance to reform. Resistance to the prohibition on FGM

is strong even in areas such as Addis Ababa and Oromia where there have been concerted

campaigns against the practice and punishment for infractions is applied. In the next section

we outline the logics underpinning FGM and female early marriage in the five sites in order

to account for their persistence.

Cultural logics of child protection

Though clear patterns emerged, we found considerable regional, ethnic, generational and

individual diversity in beliefs and practices, and yet, rather surprisingly, there was less

evidence of major differences based on gender. In the north, particularly in Amhara, early

marriage of girls is a predominant feature of the cultural repertoire, whereas genital

modification, carried out soon after birth, is of minor importance. In contrast in the south

genital modification is a necessary prelude to marriage and is much celebrated, though early

marriage is less common. Also, while there is significant cultural convergence in ideas and

practices in Amhara and Tigray, there is considerable variation the other sites, especially the

urban ones.

At the same time, Ethiopian society and economy are extremely dynamic and ideas about

what is a threat and what a benefit to girls are changing fast, such that firmly held beliefs

around FGM and female early marriage have led to significant inter-generational

disagreement in some families. Thus, some Muslim parents in Addis Ababa had conducted

clandestine circumcisions against their daughter’s wishes. One girl explained that her

mother had arranged for her to be circumcised at an early age, but when the circumciser

arrived she managed to escape to a neighbour’s house. Another complained that she could

not avoid circumcision at age five because so many people in her house that day were

determined to go ahead with the procedure. Similarly, a girl in Oromia who was in grade

four when her parents arranged her wedding begged her teachers to save her; they tried to

change her father’s mind. Her grandmother was also against the marriage, and offered her

refuge in her house, where she remained for some time. But, her father convinced the

teachers that she should return home on the pretext that her mother was sick and

eventually forced her to marry. Likewise, girls in Tigray explained that they were beaten by

their parents when they reported them to officials for trying to marry them off.

For those who are convinced that FGM and early marriage are intrinsically harmful, it is hard

to conceive of the practices as serving a protective function. Nonetheless, local logics

embody several protective elements, focusing on the consolidation of family interests in

situations of material scarcity and uncertainty and securing the social place of young

women.

Consolidation of family interests

Rates of morbidity and mortality are high throughout the Young Lives sample in Ethiopia,

such that, for example, one in five out of the total of 3,000 children have been orphaned of

at least one parent. At the same time, most households, especially those in drought-prone

rural areas that depend on subsistence rain-fed agriculture, are very poor and highly

susceptible to economic shocks (Woldehanna et al., 2011). In this context, personal survival

is generally contingent upon collective effort, and group solidarity necessarily prevails over

individual entitlements, marriage being an important means of consolidating collective and

individual interests, as well as a source of social heritage. Controlling the reproductive

capacity of females is central to shaping this heritage: arranging a girl’s marriage guarantees

her social acceptance as an adult, bestows legitimacy on her offspring and enables her

parents to determine whom she marries, when, and with what economic benefits to those

involved.

Marrying girls off early, at around puberty, may have particular instrumental value,

contributing to continuity in conditions of high maternal and infant mortality (Mathur et al

2003), ensuring young females are provided for materially (Jensen and Thorton 2003, 17)

and/or cementing alliances between in-laws as a means of social insurance or social

mobility. The economic motivation for arranging for girls to marry early were highlighted by

many respondents. In Hawassa, a leader of the Women’s Association opposed the plan to

marry a schoolgirl off precisely because it was motivated by pecuniary interests: ‘When I

asked her why she was forced to marry against her will, she told me that her mother was

dead and her aunts had asked her to marry a rich man. They told her that he would relieve

their poverty and hers. I was very angry. I told her that I would take her to the legal desk if

they persisted...she is not a means of poverty relief.’

On the other hand, one 16-year old girl from Tigray, noted that marriage had guaranteed

both her economic security and that of her mother.

I am happy with my marriage because it was arranged by my parents. It also relieved

me of the heavy wage labour, which I have been suffering from. Before, I had no plan

of marrying early. But when I stopped school and was engaged in a very tiresome job,

I wanted to marry and take rest. During the wedding ceremony our neighbours

contributed 600 birr and my mother some more for the feasts. My in-laws spent

much money and grain because they can afford it…. Mother gave my husband on the

wedding day 1,300 birr gezmi [dowry]. The amount was secured from my older sister

who works in a factory in a town…. My husband bought me all necessary clothes.

After the marriage we are sharecropping the land of my mother. We help my mother

in many ways.

Respondents in Amhara also argued that early marriage extends a woman’s reproducing

years and hence expands household labour capacity, as well as providing poor or elderly

parents with a son-in-law’s support. However, a local Kebele official expressed a different

view that traditionally early marriage was more common among the rich than the poor

because the rich would seek marriage alliances with other wealthy families so as to endow

their offspring with land and cattle. While this practice is well recorded in the ethnographic

literature nowadays, with the shortage of land and cattle in Amhara, parents have far less to

bestow on newly-weds so this rationale for early marriage is weaker.

The type of marriage and whether it involves dowry or bridewealth affects who are the main

beneficiaries - the newly-weds, or the bride or groom’s parents. In Oromia, bridewealth

(gebera) can be an important incentive for early marriage because it often involves

substantial sums of money and several cattle, paid to the bride’s family. Indeed, adults in this

site considered early arranged marriages as tantamount to exchanging girls for money.

However, the need to accumulate bridewealth can also delay marriage, leading many young

people to flout tradition by eloping, this being another cause of early marriage.

Turning to the role of the marriage of girls in consolidating a family’s social position, adults in

Oromia made a major distinction between early arranged marriages and female abductions

and elopements. They approved of the decline in abductions, as they ‘totally violate all the

marriage rights’ of girls and may involve assault, but expressed considerable unease about

the rise in elopements, which was perceived as reflecting government promotion of self-

determination in matters of marriage, and were especially concerned about the associated

decrease in arranged marriages. Adult disquiet about elopement focused on its violation of

traditional values around parental authority, young people not having the maturity to act

wisely without adult guidance and support, the risk that bridewealth payments might be

circumvented and worries about eloping couples lacking a home or a secure income and

about the welfare of daughters and their offspring.

Couples frequently organize their elopement in secret and many girls are pressured to elope.

Detrimental consequences include the risk of girls and their offspring being abandoned,

divorce and rejection by the girl’s family, as well as damage to the girl’s and her family’s

honour, and legal action against the groom and his kin by the bride’s family. One woman

explained these difficulties: ‘my daughter got married...She agreed with her husband and

married him without our consent… She was married in a nearby town. She has not come to

our home and we have not gone to hers since then. …. We are not reconciled yet. ’ The girl

also confirmed this, saying ‘….my husband paid 2200 birr to my parents as a reconciliatory

payment. [However] … The marriage is also not yet formalized because my husband has to

pay the bridewealth which is five cattle.’ Even though the groom’s family is expected to

compensate the bride’s family for violating clan norms, elopement generally results in a

lower bridewealth.

In contrast, traditional marriages arranged early are understood as conserving strong inter-

generational ties and respect for the authority of adults, while at the same time facilitating

the smooth transition of young females into social majority and providing social and physical

protection for them and their offspring. Some adults in Oromia did concede that there is a

need to adjust customary practice to take account of the couple’s views and felt it was

wrong to force a girl to marry someone she does not know or like, or who is a lot older. They

also argued that girls should not marry before the age of 18, should have their parents’

permission and follow traditional ceremonial procedures. Girls in Oromia also disagreed with

elopement, one group arguing that it, ‘violates the cultural norms of the community’, and

should be prohibited. Their reasoning included the adverse impacts on a girl’s education, the

likelihood of divorce, underage sex and parenthood, and poverty. They stressed the

importance in arranged marriages of the ongoing support given to the couple by elders,

pointing out that sometimes the groom’s parents may even facilitate the girl’s education

after marriage.

Thus, early female marriage is understood to offer many social and economic advantages to

families and kin, enabling adults to shape their social heritage and manage their domestic

economy in situations of scarcity. While these norms clearly infringe girls’ autonomy and

may lock them into detrimental marital relationships at an early age, the logic of

consolidating inter-generational ties and familial resources is in itself protective of children

in that this ensures an enabling environment for their effective transition into adulthood, the

second logic we consider.

Social acceptance for young women

We have argued that marriage is central to the economic and social wellbeing of women in

Ethiopia. In many areas, young women’s marriageability depends on their reputation for

propriety and competencies in domestic matters, and it is widely believed that genital

modification and early marriage uphold these attributes, while also constraining errant

sexual behavior. Hence, the two practices are regarded as highly protective of girls and their

offspring, in that they prevent the numerous social and physical risks associated with

extramarital sex, spinsterhood and single parenthood.

In all of the Young Lives sites adults stressed the importance of preventing girls from

engaging in extramarital sex, for their own protection and for that of their family and

offspring. The risks were cited as including the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, early

pregnancy outside marriage, and abandonment by partners, all of which can render girls

unmarriageable and lead to their exclusion from family and clan. Specific cases were

mentioned to support this concern, as in Addis Ababa where one 13-year-old girl was raped

and became pregnant by a local boy and another died at the same age following an illegal

abortion. It was reasoned that by marrying females before or at puberty, they are already

spoken for when they reach sexual maturity and hence are less likely to be promiscuous,

while genital modification ensures that they are pure and of calm disposition, making them

more suited to marriage.

Delaying marriage till 18 based on the couple’s choice was claimed by adults in Addis

Ababa, Tigray and Oromia to increase the likelihood of extramarital sex, with all the

associated problems already indicated. In the Addis Ababa site, where female sex work is

prevalent, raising the age of marriage to 18 was seen to pose many risks for girls, since they

‘are becoming “ready” for sex at a much earlier age’. In Tigray, it was reasoned that families

gain status by bringing their daughters up to be chaste and obedient; to have a prestigious

marriage a girl must be a virgin and this is far more likely if she marries young. It was also

explained that marriage prevents abduction and therefore makes it safer for girls to remain

in school. Using the term ketsige’a, the importance of ensuring that girls attain an

independent life through marriage as young as possible was highlighted and parents

expressed eagerness to have grandchildren while they themselves are still fit and well.

Respondents associated pregnancy outside wedlock with forced unions and with the

possibility of the girl’s parents threatening legal redress if the boy refuses.

As with early marriage, by far the greatest imperative behind FGM is moral, in that in all four

sites where the procedure is performed it is believed to confer purity on girls. The

significance of purity in females is particularly salient in Southern Ethiopia, as a group of girls

from Oromia explained: ‘Traditionally, uncircumcised girls are considered to be unclean

which is locally called lumbutam - a very harassing kind of term and… So, girls choose to be

circumcised rather than being insulted. Circumcised girls also have a better opportunity of

getting a husband…’ Similarly, uncircumcised women in Hawassa who are not married are

described as ‘koma qerech’ [‘she remains standing’], a metaphor for ‘old maid’.

In some areas, FGM is also thought to influence behavior. Thus, in Tigray circumcised girls

were described as ‘humble and obedient’, ‘decent’ and ‘having good behavior’. Similarly,

Muslim girls in Addis Ababa reasoned that circumcision prevents girls from developing ‘bad

behavior’, such as ‘being emotional, out of control, restless, developing sexual need at an

early age’, whereas girls who have undergone the procedure are ‘cleaner’, and ‘calmer’. FGM

was also claimed to prevent clumsiness in the performance of domestic chores, this notion

being articulated in a cultural idiom, Yaltegerezech lij qil tisebralech, meaning ‘a girl who is

not circumcised will break the drinking gourd’. Importantly, Wolayta respondents in Hawassa

made a direct link between impurity and clumsiness: ‘…if she is not circumcised she will

break objects. And if she prepares food who is going to eat it? They consider her as impure.’

In Oromia and Addis Ababa it was girls – not adults – who most favoured genital

modification, largely because of peer pressure; this in itself a reflection of the importance

girls attach to social acceptance and preserving their reputation in readiness for marriage.

While younger girls in Oromia often refuse to be circumcised, teenagers, are more likely to

succumb to peer pressure. One mother explained:

I…organized the circumcision of my other daughter who is 14 years old. It was done

at her request. After she witnessed a girl insulting another who was not circumcised,

my daughter came home and asked me to organize her circumcision… I told her I

cannot do that because I could not afford to provide her good food like meat to

heal….But she pushed and told me…what she wanted was to get circumcised.

Even though there is no religious endorsement for the practice in Ethiopia and it predates

the major monotheistic religions, some respondents regard social imperatives underpinning

FGM as being reinforced by their faith. For example, some Muslim respondents in Addis

Ababa invoked Sharia doctrine as supporting the practice, despite there being no clear basis

for this in Islam; one maintained that ‘since it is Haram [sinful] to let the girls go

uncircumcised, people still cut the genitals of the girls slightly’. Similarly, a theological

rationale within Christianity was outlined by an elderly man in Oromia, who recounted a

myth in which genital modification is portrayed as Eve’s punishment: ‘Satan lied to Eve

saying that Adam had married another woman. She was angry and Satan offered her a herb

[medicine] to give to Adam. She tasted the medicine and it went to her abdomen down to

the part [the clitoris] that is circumcised now….’

Some proponents of FGM also perceive the practice to have health benefits. Thus, elders in

Oromia maintained that, ‘Circumcision is harmless. It does not bring any health problems

for the circumcised girl.’ Furthermore, ‘Losing blood by circumcision may even wash out

some diseases. Thus it is advisable for girls who have certain diseases.’ Similarly, a caregiver

in Amhara recounted the case of an uncircumcised woman who was allegedly circumcised

by doctors during childbirth - to ensure a safe delivery - showing a strong belief in genital

modification being a necessary and protective feature of childbirth.

Thus, in safeguarding family interests and girls’ social standing and transition to adulthood,

genital modification and early marriage are seen by many as protecting females against

social and economic risks such as abandonment, stigma and destitution. Also, by limiting

extramarital sex, insofar as this is feasible, many believe that they reduce health risks, even

though global standards perceive them as major health concerns. The policy conundrum

arising from such evidence is manifest; which criteria do we use to judge what is harmful

and what is protective of children? Modern globalized norms emphasize bodily integrity,

reproductive, infant and maternal health and the rights of girls to be protected from harm

and to have a say in matters affecting them, once they reach sufficient maturity. Traditional

values are more focused on the collective good and on social acceptance of girls. Both

approaches are concerned to prevent risk and protect girls, but they reflect very different

values and understandings and imply very different approaches.

What are the implications for policy and practice?

Given the complex and highly dynamic issues surrounding female early marriage and genital

modification, it is not possible to offer simple prescriptions for policy. However, our research

evidence does suggest some broad guiding principles.

First, unlike the education and health sectors, child protection policy is about changing

values, attitudes and practices beyond the delivery of professional services; sometimes it

entails direct intervention in family life. That these values, attitudes and practices may have

historical and cultural significance and embody positive features means that globalized

policies based on a priori conceptions of risk and on generic interventions designed without

full consideration of local perceptions and contexts are unlikely to become effective rapidly

as intended.

Second, it is not at all obvious that an abolitionist approach backed by punitive measures like

imprisonment and fines is suitable for addressing practices of such social significance and

intricacy as female early marriage and genital modification. Our evidence is that rather than

bringing an end to prohibited practices, punitive measures tend to either transform them, or

drive them underground. Girls in Oromia argued that far from eliminating FGM, government

intercession has merely created new difficulties. Bullying of uncircumcised girls by those

who have undergone FGM has increased and, because parents are reluctant to become

involved out of fear punishment, many girls are organizing their own clandestine operations,

either in defiance of their parents, or to protect them from prosecution. Thus, 35 girls in the

Oromia site were circumcised recently and when the police investigated the incident, the

girls claimed that they had organized the circumcision without their parents’ involvement..

In Hawassa, on the other hand, families use their sons’ circumcision ceremonies as a decoy

for circumcising daughters.

Abolition has had a number of unanticipated deleterious outcomes for girls and the push for

change has triggered apprehension about a rise in ‘new’ childhood risks. Thus, some of the

girls in Oromia are resorting to being circumcised at night, rendering the operation

potentially far more dangerous. Seemingly, the ban has also lowered the age of FGM in

Oromia. Traditionally, girls would be circumcised at around age 15, when they were thought

to be ready to marry, but nowadays many girls are anxious to be circumcised well before this

age. Hence, by the age of 16 all of the girls in the sub-sample in Oromia had been

circumcised, even though three years earlier some were reluctant and one was adamant

that she would not agree to it.

Third, identifying a specific practice for elimination, without considering children’s wider

social and economic circumstances, risks neglecting the most critical problems they face.

Enforcing the legal age of marriage and prohibiting FGM in contexts where adolescents are

sexually active well before the age of eighteen and where there is a shortage of

contraception, lack of abortion facilities, and support to young women who bear children

out of wedlock, face divorce and/or become single parents, can result in serious adverse

outcomes for young women and their offspring. Moreover, prospects for girls to continue

their education at secondary and tertiary levels are currently quite limited in Ethiopia, as are

meaningful employment opportunities in many areas for those girls unable to remain at

school. This implies that health and other forms of advocacy around female early marriage

and genital modification might be more effective if associated with increased access for girls

to quality schooling, vocational training, employment, regulation and promotion of

appropriate forms of migration and the like.

Fourth, it is clear that many of the girls and women most affected by current policy do not

agree with policy makers about which practices require most urgent elimination

(Gruenbaum 2001). It is important to consider what families and girls stand to lose through

policy and not just what they might gain, which points to the need for planning policies

through consultation with children, their families and other interested parties. This, in turn,

means understanding children’s roles, responsibilities, preferences, and aspirations as they

grow through childhood and beyond, as well as the values, concerns and priorities of their

families. That said, balancing child protection and autonomy is no easy task, especially since

so many girls undergo genital modification and some are betrothed when very young. It is

also the case that in some instances the fulfillment of children’s right to decide for

themselves has led to elopements and genital modification carried out at considerable

personal risk against adults’ wishes.

Conclusion

Substantial effort has been expended in Ethiopia on measures to eliminate FGM and early

female marriage. These measures, together with broader societal changes, such as increased

education opportunities for girls, have transformed values and attitudes in many

communities, and a significant proportion of our respondents have come to see these

practices as harmful. There is a growing sense that girls should be informed about and

protected from the hazards of genital modification and early marriage, involved in decisions

affecting them and have the possibility of staying on at school and getting jobs rather than

marrying young.

That said, female genital modification and early marriage persist to varying degrees, are

valued by many, and are often undertaken with the active consent and even at the

insistence of girls. Moreover, the values supporting these practices are not always

inconsistent with the wellbeing of young women; indeed they have traditionally ensured

girls’ moral and social integration, and thereby their effective transition to adulthood. Many

perceive genital modification and early marriage as buffering females, households, and

wider kin groups against a range of social and physical risks, the most important protection

being that girls find a social place and transition safely to adulthood. This brings into

question assumptions about the nature of child protection and poses a dilemma as to

whether an approach that emphasizes social risks or one that is more concerned with health

and individual rights, is better for children, whether or not the two can be reconciled or both

can be justified.

In the context of societal and policy transformation, decisions about children’s protection

involve considerable complexity and uncertainty and must take account of many potentially

conflicting factors. For adults, resistance to change often centres on the belief that they

know best what risks their daughters confront and that tried and tested customary practice

is the most effective means of protection. For girls, it often has more to do with preventing

social stigma and rebuke by peers, most likely reflecting their sense of what it means to be

an adult woman in their community. Girls make decisions based on their assessments of

their chances and parents do what they think best for their children. All must consider the

trade-off between early marriage and FGM and other risks, including risks to the family as a

whole.

The perceived efficacy of female early marriage and genital modification is manifested in

continued resistance to reform, and unintended deleterious consequences in some cases.

This suggests that there has been insufficient regard to the socio-cultural and economic

context, to the rationale underlying these practices and to who is designating what is

harmful or protective for children. The appropriateness and effectiveness of measures that

focus on specific practices in isolation from wider social processes and relations is doubtful;

there is also need to consider reproductive health services, and measures to promote

women’s education and employment.

In the contested and competing repertoires, policy actors need to be wary of the

oppositions ‘modern’ and ‘backward’, ‘rational’ and ‘ignorant’, which permeate the

discourse on harmful traditional practices, for such judgments belie the complex moral,

social and practical dilemmas involved in protecting children. When interventions to

promote changes in practice do not address legitimate social concerns nor consider the

underlying logics of conventional values and all the potential effects for those involved, they

are unlikely to achieve their aims and may bring about resistance and unintended adverse

outcomes. This in turn suggests that child protection seen too narrowly, without reference

to the meanings of practices for the children’s place and their transitions to adulthood

within their societies, may in itself become an impediment to children’s wellbeing.

Disagreement within families, contestation of state policy, and clandestine actions

themselves comprise potential risks to the girls involved.

Notes

1. The 1960 Civil Code of Ethiopia fixed the minimum age of marriage for girls at 15 and for boys at 18. This was changed to 18 for both sexes in the 1987 Constitution which was endorsed by the 1995 Constitution and the 2000 Revised Family Code.

2. Clitoridectomy involves the partial or total removal of the clitoris and, very rarely, only the prepuce. Excision or labiadectomy entails partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora and infibulation involves narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal.

3. See the 1995 Federal Constitution of Ethiopia, the 1997 Federal Cultural Policy, the 2005 Criminal Code, the 2000 Revised Family Code, and the 2004 National Plan of Action for Children (2003-2010 and Beyond), and the 2011 Draft National Child Policy

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